Favorite Xmas Ever!

What has made your favorite xmas your favorite? Mine was painting ornaments with Kathleen. It wasn't my idea. It was her's...

We happened to get an arts & craft catalog for a new store in Georgetown one year around thanksgiving time. On the cover of the catalog were packages of clear glass balls, some painted and some not. So we went to this store in Georgetown to check out the ornaments and paint. Now I had been painting for a few years and felt I knew my way around liquid acrylic paint. I might give this crafts thing a try but I considered myself a "painter" and well above all that hobbyist stuff. Well was I in for a surprise!

The arts & craft store was so chic and modern because, of course, it was in Georgetown, DC. The paint was top shelf quality and many times more expensive than what I got from Michaels. But Kathleen was having fun and I didn't think she was going to buy hundreds of bottles of paint (like I had been known to do at Michaels). So as Kathleen was finishing up at the register (with a modest purchase of 6 glass balls and 6 bottles of paint), I asked the store clerk how does one paint these balls.

And then he told me. Take off the ball's lid, and pour in some paint (more than one or two colors is encouraged). And put your finger over the lid's opening and SWIRL. Pour out the excess paint and let the paint dry.

Well I tried it and just loved the results. The kind of love that leads to obession and doing over a hundred balls. Kathleen also fell in love. She must have done close to 75 that year. And we gave our artful ornaments to everyone. Our bosses. Our colleagues. Our friends and our family. Some people loved them and some people were confused by them. One person was even offended that I gave him "balls" Nevermind, our painted ornaments were that year's hit (at least with us!)

We kept many of the ornaments and each year a few hang on our tree. We had so much fun together painting those ornaments. Sure we spent a chunk of change making them but we bonded joyfully. And that's what has made it our favorite xmas ever!

Oh Xmas Tree

I have a fondness for xmas trees. I didn't have them as a child so they're a happy addition to my life. I even moved to Oregon where there's lots of xmas trees and double rainbows. But you know, I've never had the experience of hiking into the backwoods and cutting my own. No, I've always gone to the lot.

Now I'm very discriminating about which lot I go to. No Boy Scouts or religious lots for me. I apply my political correct standards even on a poor xmas tree that has no control over it's origins. But nevertheless I'm picky these days about whose pocket I'm lining with my hard-wrought money. Something like I don't want to give my money to the enemy and undo all our work.

When I was with my ex and was properly introduced to the xmas season, we bought our tree, a Blue Douglas Fir, from a nursury. It was so beautiful. I got to give my ex that, she knew her xmas trees. My ex had worked for Oregon's forestry service and was a country girl too. Xmas trees were an art form of nature to her. Bless her.

Well, soon after my ex and I split up, I went shopping for xmas trees with Kathleen. We'd go to a lot around the block from our place. The guys who run the tree lot look like they could also be selling moonshine, if you asked for it. But I shouldn't say that because they've been respectful and helpful to us (They even delivered and set-up a couple of our trees. We weren't feeling too butch in those years.).

But for all their beauty xmas trees are messy. Sure they smell great and aren't really a fire hazard if you water them everyday but when it's time to take them down...well you know about those little needles and all the vacumning. I guess as I've gotten older the effort to clean-up the mess just got overwhelming.

So we made the switch. We brought a huge 7 foot artificial tree. It was a bitch to put together. Almost impossible for us to manage. But we put it together twice and since then we have given up. It's trunk is made out of steel and is just too heavy for us. So in the spirit of xmas we're giving it away for FREE!!!

This year we have a table top artificial tree. I'll put a few of our hand-painted ornaments on our baby tree. It's enough of a xmas tree for me. And anyway it's really a solstice tree for me. Well, xmas or solstice...it doesn't change spirit of the season.

Cheers,
Diane